Will a TRIK-l-START work on 2004 RT 200P

[k1hog]

Is it possible to install a TRIK-l-START work on 2004 RT 200P?

I guess the question is: Under the hood of the RT is there a place to pick up voltage from the coach battery?

Thanks

Johnnie

[mkguitar]

in my pleasureway the battery isolator is under the hood ( blue box about 9 x 4 x 2)


the alternator feeds that- and heavy cables go from that to


1.) vehicle battery


2.) coach battery


and that is where I access the coach battery if I want


mike

[markopolo]

Yes, it will work & it would be a good choice if you don't want to replace the isolator.

A 2004 RT should have a red isolator (Hehr brand) if original. There are 3 larger posts/terminals on it. The wire from the alternator goes to the middle post. One of the outer posts goes to the house battery and the other outer post goes to chassis battery.

Trik-l-start shows how to install it:

[k1hog]

Great information.

Thanks

[mkguitar]

I gotta ask


do you have solar or some other source which will keep your coach battery topped up?






I use a battery tender on my vehicle battery and a timer so it comes on for about an hour each night when it is parked at home


Mike

[k1hog]

No solar. Not a good fit for our rving.

[markopolo]

Good point by MK - Trik-l-start needs a charge source on the coach side such as plugging the RV into shore power, generator or solar.

You can use a temporary jumper cable to connect those same outer posts to put some charge from the house side to the chassis side if stranded. I'd let it charge or equalize with the house battery a bit then remove the jumper wire for the first try at starting the engine. RT's from then had 30A or 50A breakers.

I've used a short jumper on the isolator to maintain the chassis battery when plugged in. The problem with any non-automatic method is that you can forget to remove it. A note attached to the steering wheel helps with remembering. You can also forget to connect it.

Voltage through that type of isolator (from the alternator / middle post) drops as much as 0.7V so 14.4V drops to 13.7V. Neither the house side nor chassis get to see the sought after 14.4V recommended for charging lead acid batteries so they could fail prematurely if never fully charged.

An Automatic Charging Relay (ACR) - https://www.bluesea.com/articles/1366 - gets rid of that large voltage drop so the batteries get to see closer to recommended charge voltage. I use a similar device on my van now.

[k1hog]

I keep the RT plugged into shore power, do I think the trik l start, should keep the chases battery toped off with the onboard charging system maintaining the coach battery.

[markopolo]

Yes, it will work well when plugged into grid power. Plugging in as you do should make up for the undercharging I previously mentioned. In your situation the voltage drop I mentioned becomes helpful as you start each trip with an already fully charged coach battery & don't need the higher voltage.

[SteveJ]

Originally Posted by markopolo

Good point by MK - Trik-l-start needs a charge source on the coach side such as plugging the RV into shore power, generator or solar.

You can use a temporary jumper cable to connect those same outer posts to put some charge from the house side to the chassis side if stranded. I'd let it charge or equalize with the house battery a bit then remove the jumper wire for the first try at starting the engine. RT's from then had 30A or 50A breakers.

I've used a short jumper on the isolator to maintain the chassis battery when plugged in. The problem with any non-automatic method is that you can forget to remove it. A note attached to the steering wheel helps with remembering. You can also forget to connect it.

Voltage through that type of isolator (from the alternator / middle post) drops as much as 0.7V so 14.4V drops to 13.7V. Neither the house side nor chassis get to see the sought after 14.4V recommended for charging lead acid batteries so they could fail prematurely if never fully charged.

An Automatic Charging Relay (ACR) - https://www.bluesea.com/articles/1366 - gets rid of that large voltage drop so the batteries get to see closer to recommended charge voltage. I use a similar device on my van now.

I recently replaced my diode isolator with a 2 way Blue Sea unit. What I found on my 2000 Chevy was that the alternator would crank up to over 15 volts to supply the system with 14.3 or so. I like having the Blue Sea unit, the automatic charging of the engine battery helps eliminate one more thing to worry about.

I think the diode unit was on it's way out as sometimes the cable to it from the alternator would get quite hot.

[k1hog]

I will take a look at that.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by SteveJ

I think the diode unit was on it's way out as sometimes the cable to it from the alternator would get quite hot.

there are typically 4 diodes forming a "bridge" to convert the AC produced into the DC the van wants


a bad diode would allow AC voltage to be measured on the output- if you only measure DC and no AC your diodes are good.
I have never seen a diode "way out" they either work or do not



the DC voltage is regulated to about 14.8 a lot more will destroy the battery in time


the regulator should keep the voltage constant no matter the current draw on the alternator
( the vehicle battery also works to regulate and smooth spikes)



a "hit" wire is more likely a bad connection building resistance, which builds heat- also the resistance of too small a wire gauge can produce a hot wire.


mike

[SteveJ]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

there are typically 4 diodes forming a "bridge" to convert the AC produced into the DC the van wants


a bad diode would allow AC voltage to be measured on the output- if you only measure DC and no AC your diodes are good.
I have never seen a diode "way out" they either work or do not



the DC voltage is regulated to about 14.8 a lot more will destroy the battery in time


the regulator should keep the voltage constant no matter the current draw on the alternator
( the vehicle battery also works to regulate and smooth spikes)



a "hit" wire is more likely a bad connection building resistance, which builds heat- also the resistance of too small a wire gauge can produce a hot wire.


mike

I believe the voltage was being regulated from some point in the electrical system after the diode unit as I would get into the mid 14 voltage range to the coach and chassis battery. The over 15 reading was from the alt wire going to the diode isolator. It no longer really matters in my situation as the Blue Sea does not have the diode set up.

Agreed on the possible bad connection(s). The cables attached to the old diode unit did need, and received, attention in that regard.

[rauscs]

I've got a trik-l-start on my 2004 190P. If you have solar, it is an ideal setup - all batteries charge just sitting in the driveway. I did take one of the + connections and put a male/female spade connection in the middle of the wire so I can disconnect it if I'm boondocking and need all the energy going into the coach side.

[nicaland]

I agree with Markpolo's suggestion on replacing the isolator with Bluesea's ACR, assuming that your house bank battery type can handle the 13.8V to around 14.2V coming out of it from the alternator, especially if you haven't upgraded your standard converter/charger guts to a four step unit like what Progressive Dynamics sells. Not only do you recoup the .7V or so loss sent to the house bank after the alternator's output is sent through the isolator, but any charging source sent to your house bank is also sent to the chassis battery automatically. This ACR is super easy to wire up, it should be able to be installed where your isolator currently resides, and it's cost is virtually identical to your old world isolator.